SHE’S the love of the king’s life – the woman blamed for breaking up Charles and Diana’s marriage and a one-time pariah the nation shunned and the queen didn’t like.
Her Majesty once said she couldn’t bear to be in the same room as “that woman” and avoided engagements if Camilla was going to be there. But times have changed. No-nonsense, non-attention-seeking, hard-working Camilla has wormed her way into the public’s heart and endeared herself to the late queen.
She becomes the queen consort when Charles is crowned king in May 2023 and takes the royal family into their next chapter.
BACK TO THE BEGINNING
Camilla has described her childhood as “perfect in every way”.
She’s the eldest child of Major Bruce Shand, a British army officer who became a successful wine merchant, and Rosalind Maud Shand, a glamorous homemaker.
Her birthday – 17 July 1947 – makes her almost exactly 16 months older than Charles.
She grew up at The Laines, a seven-bedroom country estate in the affluent town of Lewes in East Sussex, England, with her younger siblings, Sonia Annabel and Mark.
Camilla’s life was an Enid Blyton storybook brought to life. She enjoyed reading, drawing and playing outdoors with the family dogs. Summers were spent at pony camp and she competed regularly in community gymkhanas.
She was 11 when she went to board at the
